A strange development, in recent times, has been the rise of anti-migrant sentiment among a great many Catholics including many who would describe themselves as devout and loyal members of the church. Usually couched in language of being opposed to ‘uncontrolled mass, ‘illegal immigration’, ‘open borders’, ‘endangering our women and children’ and ‘civilisational erasure’, the view is presented as middle of the road and reasonable unlike that held by ‘woke’ or ‘radical left’. These views – spoken or half-spoken are sometimes prefaced with ‘while I am not a racist…’
Even among Christians
the polarising language around immigration is now commonplace online as well as
offline. Just listen to any conversation,
now, in Ireland or elsewhere. Sometimes,
it seems to me that the more devout and the more ‘prolife’ a person is the more
likely they are to be exercised about immigrants.
I generalise and, now, I risk jumping to judgmental conclusions
